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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24371113">Death of a Corsair</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Wintry/pseuds/Little_Wintry'>Little_Wintry</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Destiny 1 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Destiny (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Decided to post on a whim, Gen, Guardian Origins, I'm actually semi-proud of it, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Some angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:23:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,591</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24371113</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Wintry/pseuds/Little_Wintry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As a pre-Guardian Zelun goes to retrieve fallen Crows, her friend Petra gets named Queen's Wrath - but when Zelun isn't there for the ceremony, Petra begins to worry.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Destiny 1 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745218</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Death of a Corsair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Me? Posting notes at the beginning? More likely than you think.</p><p>Anyway, chapter 2 of Taken King is taking much longer than I expected. I'm in a big ol' state of writer's block right now, and I'm only posting this because I actually wrote it a few months ago. This piece is a bit sloppy, but I'm strangely very proud of it. Honestly, I might not update my TTK story unless it starts getting more traction, because I don't wanna overwork myself if only 3 people see it. Hopefully, I'll continue to dig up some old one-shot, &gt;1k fics to post every now and again. Stay safe, everyone!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You have everything you need?”</p><p>Zelun turned back to Petra. “Yes, I do. And I’ll be back in time for you to get named Queen’s Wrath, too. I’m picking up a few Crows, it’s no big deal.” </p><p>That didn’t stop Petra from frowning. “It just doesn’t feel right. After losing Sjur-”</p><p>“You don’t wanna lose me, I get it.” Zelun put a hand on her shoulder, cocked her head, and smiled. “But you <em>know </em>me. I’ll fly down there, get those Crows, and fly back. It should take, like, two hours, at most.”</p><p>Petra suppressed her sigh. “Okay. But if the Fallen-”</p><p>“I speak Eliksni, Petra. If that doesn’t work I can just shoot ‘em. No skin off my nose.”</p><p>Seeing no point in keeping her delayed, Petra nodded. “Okay. Be safe, Ze."</p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------       <em>   1 hour later  </em>        ----------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Old Russia. The last Crow she needed was in here somewhere. </p><p>Zelun’s ship landed on one of the dusty plateaus. She stepped out of her Galliot to be greeted with harsh, cold winds. Rusted buildings and cars littered the place. Whenever she visited places like this on Earth, she couldn’t help but feel sorry.</p><p>She shook her head and kept moving. Within minutes, dust coated her boots and her Corsair’s uniform. </p><p>Zelun picked up her radio, holding up to her mouth and leaving another message. “This is uh…. Transmission number…. 5? I forget. I’ve been radioing you on and off for the better part of an hour, and it’s blurring together at this point. Anyway, this is from Corsair Zelun Kor to Queen’s Wrath Petra Venj, though honestly I don’t know if you’ve been named yet at the time of this.” </p><p>She squinted over the horizon at the imposing, rusted wall. </p><p>“I have all but one,” Zelun said into the radio, hopping over a piece of debris. “Anyway, you’re probably living it up right now and talking to Mara- hey, tell her I said hi, will you?”</p><p>There was a clatter behind her, and Zelun froze, glancing over her shoulder. Her hand went down to the sidearm on her waist. “And… well, I was gonna say I hadn’t run into trouble. Guess I jinxed myself.”</p><p>Keeping the radio close to her face, Zelun edged forward, towards an overturned car. She held her breath.</p><p>“<em>Who’s there?” </em>She said in Eliksni.</p><p>A low, chittering growl responded.</p><p>Zelun grit her teeth. “Well damn. Guess I’ll be calling back soon.”</p><p> </p><p>-------------------- <em> Back at the Reef </em>--------------------</p><p> </p><p>Petra felt like she was walking on air.</p><p> </p><p>Uldren still was at one side of her, leading her out of the Hall of Names in back into the main area of the Harbinger’s Seclude. People milled around, giving her pats on the back or congratulating her. She lifted her chin, scanning the area for Zelun.</p><p>Uldren lifted an eyebrow in question. </p><p>“Just… looking.” She said. She was about to reach for her radio on her belt then remembered she was still in her formal armor. </p><p>“This is all just celebration,” Uldren said, waving his hand. “It’s just gonna be another few hours, then you can relax.” He nodded. “It’s a lot, I know.”</p><p>Petra kept walking. “And what will <em> you </em>be doing?”</p><p>He hid a cocky smile. “You’re not some Corsair anymore. You’re <em> Queen’s Wrath. </em>You don’t need to concern yourself with what I do.”</p><p>Petra shook her head. “I’ve known you long enough to watch you anyway.”</p><p>Still, she bit her tongue and glanced at the groups of people. “Do you know where any of the other Corsairs are?”</p><p>“Petra, relax,” Uldren said. “She’ll be fine.”</p><p>She took a deep breath and kept telling herself that. </p><p> </p><p>-------------------- <em> Cosmodrome </em> --------------------</p><p> </p><p>Zelun choked on dust as she lept over a rocky ledge. She could still hear the scuttling of Vandals and Dregs behind her. </p><p>She pulled her radio up to her mouth, breathing heavily.</p><p>“This is-” She tripped on a rock. “Corsair Zelun Kor, requesting backup and assistance at coordinates-” A bolt of energy ripped past her, stinging her shoulder and Zelun yelped, pumping her legs and running faster.</p><p>She fumbled with her sidearm, firing a few blind shots back at her chasers. She cursed under her breath.</p><p>Ducking underneath a collapsed beam, she reloaded her sidearm and was able to get in a few clean shots, downing two of the Dregs that pursued her. With a moment of rest, she caught her breath and continued to run back towards her ship.</p><p>Rapidly switching frequencies, Zelun held the radio back up to her mouth. </p><p>“Hey there Petra,” She said, panting. “It’s Ze, I’m in a bit of a mess,” More bolts of energy whizzed past her ear. “Yeah, I’ve probably missed your ceremony by now. Didn’t find that Crow, by the way.” </p><p>She grinned and saw her ship in view just over the horizon. “This’ll be my last transmission, so I’ll just talk to you-”</p><p>She stranged a cry as a bolt hit her square in the back. She tumbled forward, over a dusty, rocky hill, and scrambled to stand back up. She grasped for her sidearm, only to find it a few feet out of her grasp.</p><p>Something pinned her hand to the ground. When she tried to crane her neck to see what it was, all she saw was a Fallen claw in rust-red cloth.</p><p>She heard a weapon charge up and suddenly her shoulder screamed in pain. She heard the chittering of a Captain, ordering his pack to stand down. Zelun’s face remained buried into the dirt.</p><p>The Captain pulled Zelun up by her collar like she was a cat.</p><p>“<em>What House do you belong to?” </em>He snarled.</p><p><em> “None,” </em> Zelun coughed. She felt a Vandal aim down at her head. “<em>I have no stake here. I didn’t know I was crossing into your territory-” </em>The Captain moved his hand and wrapped his three claws around Zelun's throat.</p><p>The Captain chuckled. “<em>This one thinks she can fool us.” </em>The rest of his crew chuckled with him.</p><p>He jabbed his rifle into Zelun’s chest, and his grip tightened around her throat. “<em> You belong to that City, don’t you?” </em></p><p>Zelun struggled out a cough. Her vision was getting spotty. “<em>N-No…” </em></p><p>Best she could, Zelun managed a snarl. “<em>If you kill me, you’ll invite the wrath of my people. It’ll be a mistake.” </em></p><p>The Vandal that stood behind the Captain narrowed his eyes. “<em>It’s a bluff.” </em></p><p>The Captain’s claws dug into Zelun’s throat, and he threw her dozens of feet away and Zelun felt pain spike across her entire body.</p><p>Her vision was blurred and she struggled to move. Slowly she managed to pull her radio up to her mouth, her hands trembling as she sent out one final, almost frantic transmission.</p><p>“Petra-” She coughed. “I-”</p><p>The Captain pinned her to the car, growling as he sneered. “<em>No calls for help. Die with dignity.” </em></p><p>All Zelun saw was a flash of blue before everything went numb.</p><p> </p><p>-------------------- <em> The Reef </em>--------------------</p><p> </p><p>Petra unclasped her armor, ran a hand through her hair, and collapsed into her bed, still giddy with the excitement of the day.</p><p>She sighed and took a few deep breaths. Her euphoria died when she saw the radio on her dresser. It blinked rapidly, signaling that there were at least a dozen messages.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Zelun. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She lept up, fumbling with the radio. She changed frequencies until she got to the right channel.</p><p>Fallen chatter.</p><p>“Zelun!” Petra shouted, grasping the radio. “Zelun, do you copy? Do you respond?”</p><p>The Fallen speaking ceased for a moment before there was a snarl, followed by nothing but static.</p><p>Tears welled in Petra’s eyes. She rapidly flipped through the radio settings, until she got to the left messages. </p><p>“<em>This is uh, transmission number… five?” </em> Zelun said. “<em>I forget. I’ve been radioing you for the better part of an hour. Anyway, this is Corsair Zelun Rols to Queen’s Wrath Petra Venj, though honestly I don’t even know if you’ve been named yet at the time of this.” </em></p><p>Petra listened intently.</p><p>“<em>I have all but one, anyway, you’re probably living it up right now and talking to Mara - hey, tell her I said hi, will you?” </em></p><p>There was a loud clatter, and Zelun halted.</p><p>“<em>And… well, I was gonna say I hadn’t run into any trouble. I guess I jinxed myself.” </em></p><p>Fallen chittering. Zelun said something in Eliksni before she signed off. Petra flipped to the next transmission - the most recent one that had been cut off.</p><p>“<em>Hey there, Petra,” </em> She was out of breath, running, panting. “<em>It’s Ze, I’m a bit of a mess. Yeah, I’ve probably missed your ceremony by now. Didn’t find that Crow, by the way. This’ll be my last transmission so I’ll just talk to you-” </em></p><p>Petra choked back a sob. She heard Zelun cry out - followed by Fallen talk. Most of it was scuffing and static, punctuated by Zelun speaking Eliksni. </p><p>There was a sudden bang. There were only two more strangled sounds.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Petra, I-” </em></p><p> </p><p>It picked up where the rest left off.</p><p> </p><p>The radio clattered onto the floor. Petra dropped to her knees. She couldn't muster a sound, she couldn't even cry, her entire body trembled. Everything else faded out, and Petra was left only with herself and the radio that contained her closest friend's final words.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Petra said hoarsely, bowing her head as her eyes welled with tears. "Ze, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-" The words caught in her throat, and Petra covered her mouth to muffle her sob.</p><p>"You were always there for me," Petra said softly, shaking her head. "And I couldn't be there for you."</p>
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